Tom Moore, the Archie cartoonist who brought to life the escapades of a freckled-face, red-haired character, has died in Texas.
He was 86.
Moore, who began drawing cartoons while in the US. Navy during the Korean War, died early Monday (20th July) morning while in hospice care in his hometown of El Paso, his son Lito Bujanda-Moore told The Associated Press on Tuesday (21st July). He said his father was diagnosed with throat cancer within the past week and chose not to undergo treatment.
Moore drew Archie Andrews and his friends on and off from 1953 until he retired in the late 1980s. Annual sales of the comic regularly surpassed half a million during the 1960s, according to the El Paso Times.
“I did one comic book a month,” Moore told the newspaper in 1996. “I did everything. We always worked 6 months ahead. I’d be doing Christmas issues in June and beach stories with a foot of snow outside my window.”
Archie Comics’ editor in chief, Victor Gorelick, who has worked at the company for more than 50 years, said Moore “was a cartoonist’s cartoonist.” He noted that Archie Comics invited Moore back to help revamp Archie’s friend, Jughead, and remained with the company until he retired.
“Tom was very funny and had a knack for putting together really great, hilarious gags and special pages when he worked at Archie,” Gorelick said. “He was probably best known here for inking our Jughead relaunch decades ago. We’re all sad to hear this news and wish his family the very best during this time.”
Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, fans, and loved ones.
Rest in peace, Tom Moore.
Source: USA Today / Featured image from Elpaso Times.
